Longhorns sign 20 recruits

AUSTIN — Texas coach Mack Brown missed out on the last two high-profile recruits he was targeting Wednesday, but the Longhorns still signed a 20-player class rated by one prominent national service as the fifth-best in the country.

In the only signing-day drama for the Longhorns, Georgia defensive end Jarvis Jones chose USC over UT and Florida, and Alabama defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick picked his home-state Crimson Tide over the Longhorns. Jones and Kirkpatrick were two of only five out-of-state recruits offered scholarships by UT this year. The only one Brown signed was Arkansas defensive lineman Derek Johnson.

Still, that didn’t take much of the luster off another star-studded class for Brown’s staff, which once again focused on dominating the Lone Star State. Wednesday’s class was led by Lake Travis quarterback Garrett Gilbert, the 6-foot-4, 207-pounder who was named the Gatorade and Parade national player of the year, EA Sports’ Mr. Football USA, and USA Today’s offensive player of the year.

And the Longhorns didn’t have to go far to find the other prized jewel, Pflugerville defensive lineman Alex Okafor. Like Gilbert, Okafor was tabbed a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, which ranked UT’s class behind only Alabama, USC, LSU and Ohio State nationally.

Overall, it was a balanced class that addressed every area of the Longhorns’ perceived needs. That includes running back, where Madisonville’s Chris Waley is expected to compete for playing time with Vondrell McGee and Fozzy Whittaker next fall.

“We could line up and pretty much play this as a freshman team,” Brown said. “It’s unusual to get somebody at every position.”